U-God is frustrating because when he’s on a Wu cut, he usually murders it; Chessboxin’, Severe Punishment and Watch Your Mouth come to mind. His gravelly voice really stands out when he’s used right and when he’s not lazy about writing. I kinda feel bad for him because like INS and Masta Killa, he sort of got left behind with those first five solo albums. I wonder if that didn’t just totally take the wind out of his sails and he was never able to recover his momentum. Too bad, ’cause like I said, when he’s nice he’s niiiiice.

And yes, Gza really phones it in on this as well, which is doubly frustrating as he’s one of the most gifted lyricists in the 40-year history of hip hop.